Understanding hidden AI in everyday business tools

AI is increasingly built into the everyday apps businesses use, including Gmail, Microsoft 365, Teams, Zoom, Slack, social media platforms and customer management systems.

Business owners may not even realise AI is present, understand what it does, what information it can access or what actions it is authorised to take.

Understanding these capabilities, permissions and responsibilities is therefore an essential part of managing a business.

I write independent, plain-English explanations of these capabilities and their consequences for businesses. My focus is on AI decision evidence: what should be recorded, what may be missing and how decisions can be reviewed, challenged and corrected.

My work helps businesses, advisers and other interested professionals understand how AI works beneath the surface, the benefits it can bring together with the risks and responsibilities that come with it.

Here is a simple breakdown of what I do

What everyday AI does: Where AI operates inside familiar business tools, what information it uses and what it can recommend, communicate or change.

What evidence its decisions leave: What records exist, what they show and what may be missing when someone needs to understand, challenge or correct a decision.